Boom!
It was as if such a sound effect had played on Sharen's face.
That's how shocked she was—it was a response she hadn't imagined in the slightest.
"I-Isaac?"
After being rejected, Sharen instead stood up and grabbed Isaac's cheeks with both hands.
"A-Are you sick? What's wrong?! You still look as handsome as usual! So, is it something else?!"
"..."
"Doctor! No—Mage! We're heading to the Mage Tower, so just hold on a bit!"
"..."
"Is it because of the bump?! Is that it?! Just how hard did the Grandmaster hit you—?!"
"It's not, so sit down."
Taking the hair tie, Isaac gently pushed Sharen back into her seat.
While tying her hair, he gave a simple explanation.
By the time he was done, Sharen whipped her head around to look at him.
"So now you're just going to live recklessly?!"
"…Not recklessly. Just… trying to live a bit differently."
He wasn't sure if this could be called a form of training, but since they told him to do it…
Isaac let out a sigh and stared at Sharen.
Looking into her blinking eyes, Isaac said something he normally never would.
"You're cute."
"…?!"
Ahem "I'm just saying what came to mind. I feel like I've been caught up in the subjugation spell too."
"Ah."
For a moment, Sharen's expression darkened slightly. But it only lasted briefly.
She quickly brightened again and smiled.
"You're right!"
"..."
It was the same last time, too.
Sharen had grown into a strong person.
Since being sad wouldn't change anything, she tried to become even more cheerful.
Maybe that's why she looked a little pitiful.
Isaac quietly reached out and patted her head.
"Sorry, that was a poor choice of words."
"No, it's okay! You said it's part of your training! And you're struggling too, Isaac. We're all in this together!"
Sharen shook her head to match the motion of his hand as he patted her.
She looked happy, beaming brightly as she smoothly transitioned to another topic.
"I wonder if Nureumdol made it back okay?"
"Well, Jonathan took him back to Helmut with him, so… I'd say he's doing alright."
Since it was an urgent situation, the eldest son, Lohengrin, remained in the north.
Jonathan had gone to deliver the message to Helmut, and Nureumdol had gone with him.
The two had gotten somewhat close—maybe he'd even claimed a spot for himself in the garden by now.
"But Isaac, why do you have a bump on your head?"
Sharen got up slightly and reached for Isaac's head. He winced from the sting, which made her laugh in amusement.
"Haa, don't even ask. It's because—"
He was cut off when the Grandmaster emerged from the tent.
With tousled hair barely straightened, the Grandmaster was casually wagging her tail.
But the moment they saw Isaac by the campfire, their sleepy eyes narrowed and their tail stood upright.
"Well, well. Isn't this the disciple who dared call their noble master narrow-minded?"
"You told me to speak honestly."
"But did you really have to hit the nail on the head so hard?! Your words stabbed my heart right up until I fell asleep last night!"
"I couldn't sleep well either… because of the bump."
"Hmm, my bad. I lost my temper for a moment."
Yeah. That bump wasn't from some intense training session.
Though… maybe in a way, it was the result of training?
"Words are the most effective means of communication for humans."
That's why Isaac always tried to be cautious with them.
But after hearing the two of them suggest that he start by changing that habit, he tried being a little more honest yesterday… and got hit for it.
"Grrrrng!"
Stretching as she came out of the same tent was Mu-myeong.
"You're awake."
Isaac greeted her politely, and Mu-myeong yawned and nodded.
"Surprised that a frivolous person didn't oversleep?"
"..."
"Pfft, just kidding."
She laughed, finding his reaction amusing, and began preparing breakfast.
***
"Ooh?"
A few days later.
Just as the Mage Tower began to come into view.
Sharen was riding on the same horse as Isaac, nestled in his arms.
She stretched both hands toward Damien, who was keeping pace beside them.
"Alright, how many this time?"
"Hmmmmm."
Maybe because he used to be a thief, Damien had quite the sleight of hand.
He was entertaining Sharen by playing a guessing game with coins.
'Well, thanks to that, things are peaceful.'
Isaac rode silently, reins in hand.
Acting on instinct and speaking his mind had turned out to be harder than he thought.
But for now, he was doing his best.
"What do you think, Isaac? Odd or even?"
"..."
Isaac glanced sideways, smacked his lips, and answered,
"Odd."
"Then I'll go with even!"
Why even ask, then?
"And the answer is—"
Damien opened his hand… and it was empty.
"Jackpot! The answer was nothing!"
"Crimson Flame Burst!"
Sharen immediately took down the swindler.
Had it not been for the rope tying him to the saddle, Damien would've fallen right off the horse.
"Is that a skill you learned back in your pickpocket days? Fascinating."
"Gahh…! Pickpocket, really? Do you even know how often you say things that sting a little?"
Climbing back onto the horse, Damien grumbled, muttering that it was all in good fun.
Isaac paused for a moment and then asked,
"Senior, by any chance, do you have cards?"
"Cards? Why? You know how to play?"
"I was quite the legend among the boatmen back in the day."
It might be hard to imagine now, but during his time as a boatmen, Isaac was closely tied to all sorts of games.
Rather than holding a sword, he preferred gripping a hand of cards. Sometimes he won, sometimes he lost.
Aside from his striking looks, he was pretty much like any other gambler you'd find around a betting table.
"Ta-da."
As if performing magic, a deck of cards suddenly appeared in Damien's hand.
"Whoa."
"Ooh."
Sharen and Isaac simultaneously exclaimed in awe, clearly impressed, and Damien grinned with satisfaction.
"Of course I have cards. If I'd known, we could've played a few rounds of poker last night."
"Hm, that might have been difficult."
"Ah, true."
Since they were swinging swords every night, there wouldn't have been time to enjoy cards.
Sharen, nestled in Isaac's arms, tilted her head up and asked him,
"Isaac, what's poker? I don't know how to play."
"Hmm, I'll teach you later. When we get the chance."
"Yay!"
The sound of the horses' hooves changed.
They had entered a neatly paved stone path — a sign that they were now entering the Magic Tower's domain.
The Magic Tower could be considered an independent research institution.
Most mages were managed by the Tower, and those found outside were usually either Tower-trained or dispatched personnel.
Although technically autonomous, there was one ironclad rule: they never participated in wars between humans.
Instead, they were typically stationed in places like the Wall of Malidan — which kept out beasts — or dispatched to royal courts.
In any case, as could be seen from the mages they'd met so far, most adhered to a belief in innate talent and often looked down on outsiders.
'The Tower's lack of real combat experience was one of the major reasons they couldn't stop the Transcendents.'
Because of their rule against taking part in wars, they were ironically useless when it came to the battle against the Transcendents.
Sadly, during that war, mages were only able to serve as rear support.
And the Transcendents, for their part, held deep hostility toward mages.
"Hey, is it really okay for us to just waltz into the Magic Tower like this?"
Sharen asked curiously.
Normally, entering Tower grounds uninvited would be a big no-no. But they'd already sent a formal envoy ahead.
"Vivian already returned. To report on the northern situation. He also let them know we'd be coming."
"Vivian… who's that again?"
"…The mage stationed at the Malidan Wall."
"Ah—!"
So they had fought alongside him in the Abyss Realm and still forgot. Classic.
As the rhythmic sound of hooves echoed along the stone path like a melody,
A group of mages approached in haste from beyond the path.
Eight mages, clad in robes, were heading straight toward Isaac's group.
"Something doesn't feel right," the Grandmaster muttered.
And she was right.
When they were roughly twenty paces apart, the mages raised their staves and gave a warning:
"Dismount. Now."
The atmosphere was tense.
The mages seemed rushed, and their wariness was palpable.
"You really think keeping twenty paces between us is enough?" muttered Mu-myeong with a click of her tongue.
Just as she said, that distance could be closed in an instant by someone like the Grandmaster or Mu-myeong.
'This kind of thinking is exactly what proves the Tower's incompetence.'
With no battle experience, they were far easier to take down than expected — something only realized after most of the Tower's mages had already perished.
"Hm."
Isaac dismounted, raised his hands, and stepped forward.
"I am Baron Logan of the Albion Kingdom. I was told that notice of our arrival had already been sent ahead?"
"Baron Logan…? Ah! From the north?"
"Yes, that's right."
They had hoped this would ease the tension. But…
"Then put down your sword and come here. We need to conduct a body search."
The tense atmosphere continued.
"…Is this how you treat a noble of the kingdom?"
Even a baron is still a noble. Being subjected to a body search without any explanation was hard to accept.
"Don't bring up outside ranks inside the Tower, outsider."
"…"
"To us, whether noble or commoner, you're all just incompetent rejects."
Their tone was starting to cross the line.
Isaac was the first to step forward.
"How about we see who's incompetent, then? Want to go a round?"
"Oh?"
"Pfft!"
Sharen looked at Isaac in surprise, while the Grandmaster covered her mouth to hold back laughter. Embarrassed, Isaac scratched his head but didn't back down.
'This is training. Just another kind of training.'
Anyway, this wouldn't be enough to cause real conflict with the Tower. So Isaac decided to push harder.
"Shall we? Let's see which is faster—your staff or my sword."
"Such recklessness… You can't even keep your true thoughts to yourself."
With those words, Mu-myeong stepped forward. She was clearly going to demonstrate something—not with words, but action.
Just as Mu-myeong placed her hand on her greatsword—
"W-wait a miiinute—!"
A familiar voice called from behind the mages.
Vivian, who had lost his mana in the Abyss and had been feeling down ever since, came running up drenched in sweat.
He hurriedly stepped between the two sides and shouted,
"These people are our guests! You can't treat them like this!"
"The Tower Master has ordered body searches on everyone. You know that."
"Still, not them! Why would we search people coming from outside in the first place?"
"…"
At his words, the mage clicked his tongue softly and turned away with a frown.
If they were pushing this hard, something must've happened in the Tower.
As the situation calmed down a little, Vivian bowed his head as he approached.
"You've arrived. I apologize on behalf of everyone. The Tower is currently in a bit of a crisis…"
"A crisis?" Isaac asked, raising an eyebrow.
Vivian looked around cautiously and sighed before explaining.
"Please don't talk about this elsewhere… but… the Tower has been robbed."
Robbed?
"What, someone stole a magic artifact?"
"If it were just a magic artifact, it wouldn't be this bad. What was stolen is… the Mana Core that has been passed down for generations."
The Mana Core—.
Isaac paused, then widened his eyes in shock.
"The Mana Core?! You mean the one the First Tower Master left behind to be used in emergencies?!"
As Isaac asked in disbelief, Vivian gestured for him to be quiet and whispered,
"Y-yes… that one is gone."
"No way, how—"
Wait.
Isaac's mind began racing.
In his past life, no matter how much chaos the Transcendents caused, the Tower never used the Mana Core.
'Could it be that… this is why?'
Was it already stolen at this point in time?